Chamber opposes dedicated board seats

The Baton Rouge Area Chamber on Thursday announced its opposition to adding three dedicated board members from Baker, Central and Zachary to serve on the boards that oversee East Baton Rouge Parish’s parks system and its library system.

The measures, included on the ballot for Saturday’s election, are to amend the Plan of Government and change the current structure of at-large membership of the two boards.

“While BRAC supports fair representation for Baker, Central, and Zachary, it is our board’s position that dedicated representatives are not the right answer over the current model of at-large representation,” Adam Knapp, president and chief executive officer of BRAC, said in a news release.

He said BRAC fears these amendments “will further divide our political leadership as a parish, rather than encouraging cooperative leadership.”